26 August 2015

After last year's failed attempt to put Alcalá on the international cycling map, Stage 4 of this year's "Vuelta", Spain's equivalent of the Tour de France, passed through the town yesterday on its 210 km route from Estepona to Vejer de la Frontera. The stage winner was Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, of the Movistar team. Here are some photos taken by myself and various Facebook friends.

20 June 2015

The Restaurant Formerly Known as La Parada re-opened last week as "La Auténtica" - the Real Thing. It is being managed by an enthusiastic young team of local people, including the former chef from the restaurant at the Botanical Gardens. The decor (apart from the red awning outside) has been completely refreshed, the kitchen is brand-new and there is a very reasonably priced menu using ingredients from the region where possible.

There is also a range of products from the Iberian pig (cerdo ibérico), the ultimate free-range meat as they graze freely amongst the oak trees on the dehesas. Some of the cuts don't translate into English but this gives a rough idea:

Lagarto ibérico - strips of fillet from between the ribsPresa ibérica - the best cut, from the shoulderSecreto ibérico - a fillet cut from between the shoulder and the loinSolomillo ibérico - tenderloin Chorizo ibérico - Spain's best known sausage, flavoured with paprikaJamón ibéricode bellota - air-dried ham, succulent and tasty, from pigs fed on acorns.

La Auténtica's wine list includes a young red (joven), a mature red (crianza) and a Chardonnay from the Bodega Entrechuelos, near Jerez de la Frontera; three Riojas (two red and one white) from Bodega Patrocinio; a Ribera del Duero from Cinema Wines; a crisp white Verdejo, and a rosé Lambrusco. Prices range from €8.00 to €11.00 per bottle, €2.00-€2.50 per glass..

The restaurant offers a couple of set meals for two - croquettes, pork chops and a bottle of white wine for €16.90, or house salad, pork tenderloin and a bottle of red for €18.

Desserts (€3.50-.€4.00) include a creme caramel with figs and Pedro Jiménez (sweet sherry), chocolate pudding, and a cheesecake with quince jelly.

26 May 2015

Municipal elections took place all across Spain last Sunday and, after four years of what can most kindly be described as an almost total absence of government, Alcalá has a new mayor and a new team in charge of running the town. The unholy alliance between right and left, the Partido Popular (PP) and the Izquierda Unida (IU), has been consigned to history and the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) took ten of the 13 seats available, their biggest majority since 1983, leaving the PP with two and the IU with just one. The turnout was almost 70%, more than double the average for a local election in the UK.

The new alcalde, 35-year-old Javier Pizarro Ruiz, is not new to the Ayuntamiento, having been a councillor in the previous administration. He was born and bred in Alcalá, and is related to half the town. He trained in environmental, countryside and forest management but politics is in his blood. His father is Luis Pizarro, a leading figure in the parliament of the Junta de Andalucia for many years. He picked a team of candidates from all walks of life - teachers,
environmental managers, administrators, waiters, stay-at-home mothers -
all with strong local ties (and big families). There was never any doubt that PSOE would regain office this time round.

The campaign was relentless. Pizarro had generated a steady stream of criticism of the coalition on Facebook and in the PSOE bulletin Actualidad Socialista ever since they took office in 2011. This became torrential in the weeks before the election, when every household received a four-page full-colour leaflet showing all the projects that were started in the previous PSOE term but left languishing by the "Derecha Unida": the old people's home, the cemetery, the museum, the recycling point ... They held public meetings, canvassed from door to door, distributed a forest's-worth of paper and used social media to the full. A car with a loudspeaker on the roof circled the town every day telling us what we needed to know in order to cast our votes wisely. On the last day they were allowed to campaign, they organised a cavalcade of about 40 cars plastered with posters and drove round the town blasting their horns (personally I found that totally over the top, but then I am English and not accustomed to such vulgarity!)

The other parties' efforts were barely visible in comparison, though it is noteworthy that the IU was the only group that didn't resort to mudslinging in their manifesto, but actually concentrated on ways to improve the town and the lives of its people. It was the only one to commit to making Alcalá an eviction-free zone, for example, and pronounce that food banks should not be necessary in a civilised society. In contrast, the PP promised a revival of folk-dancing classes, giving everything a fresh coat of paint, and a contest for the prettiest patio.

So what now for Javier Pizarro and his young team? They have made a lot of promises which they now have to keep. They will surely find a massive debt in the town's finances, as the PP/IU have been spending money like water over the last few months painting everything white and building fancy footpaths that don't go anywhere. They have to rebuild bridges with the bodies that fund local projects, e.g. the Junta de Andalucía and the Diputación de Cádiz. They must ignore the mud that will inevitably be slung at them, not squander their energy blaming the past administration for everything, and concentrate on the future. Above all they must avoid becoming complacent, and never forget who they are accountable to.

The new team have the ability and the commitment to make things happen, and I wish them well. Just lay off the car-horn cavalcades guys, leave that for the football fans.

16 January 2015

Acelgas (chard): a versatile winter
vegetable. Use the leaves like spinach
and the stems like celery.

If you look up berza in a dictionary it says cabbage, kale or collard
greens, but around here it is the name of a hearty winter stew, justifiably popular at this time of year. It is nourishing and tasty, and very economical to make, being based on chickpeas (garbanzos) and dried white beans (alubias blancas) for bulk, plus seasonal vegetables and cheap but tasty meat products like spiced sausage (chorizo) and blood pudding (morcilla).

The locals will often include plants harvested from the countryside, such as the various kinds of edible thistle (tagarninas and cardos). You can buy these at the village shops or from street vendors when they are in season.

The authentic version includes various bones and other items you can get cheap from the butcher, which all help to flavour the
stock and add protein, but I just stick to things I recognise and chuck in a stock cube.

Chorizos and morcilla are produced
locally by EMBUTIDOS GAZULES

The stew is thickened at the end of the cooking process by stirring in a majao, a strongly-flavoured paste traditionally made with a pestle and mortar (from the verb majar, to mash or crush). You can use stale bread, or if you want a gluten-free version, ground almonds work well. Garlic, salt, cumin and paprika (pimentón) are used to add the flavour.

The meaty bits, known as la pringá, are removed before serving and sliced up on a plate, to be eaten separately or distributed evenly amongst the bowls of stew. The verb pringar means (among other things!) to "dunk" or dip your bread in the soup.

1. Pre-soak the beans and chickpeas overnight, in separate bowls.
2. Cut the vegetables into rough chunks, not too small. Be sure to remove any stringy bits from the celery and chard.
3. Put everything except the majado into a large saucepan. Leave
the chorizo etc whole. Bring to the boil and remove any foam, then
cover and simmer until the chickpeas and beans are soft (about an hour). If
you are using precooked ones (or a pressure cooker), 30 min should be fine.
4. Meanwhile soak the bread in some of the stock to soften. Drain it then pound
it in a pestle and mortar with the garlic cloves, salt and spices, moistened with some olive
oil so you have a thick paste. As an alternative to bread, you can use ground almonds, or some of the soft chickpeas from the stew.
5. Add the paste to the stew and stir in well.
Season to taste. If it's too watery, simmer a bit more to reduce.
6. Before serving, remove the meat items and cut them up separately. You can then distribute the meat evenly amongst the bowls of stew, or eat them separately with bread.